Fountain brush for automobiles



April 3, 1928.

Filed 001;. 20. 1924 TIE- J.

Patented Apr. 3, 19 28.

was

I. uglvilTEi PATENT6FFrC Ef nosnmnonsn 'wrmn conenpr SYDNEY, mwseern wimns, steamers. f

FOUNTAIN nn'rrsrr non AUroMoBrLn's.

Application filed oetobeizo, 1924. Serial No. H4199.

This invention relates to fountain brushes and proposes the construction of an artlcle of the class designated, which, wh le-of general utility, is particularly adapted to. the

cleansing ,of highly polished V and easily marred surfaces, such as the outsidesurfaces of automobile bodies. p V

The invention has for one of itsobjects the provision of a fountan brush adapted to delver water to the surfaces to becleansed in a jet having the form of substantially concentric laminae, whereby concentric waves are produced upon saldsurface at the points of impingement ofsaid laminae, said waves expanding outwardly, ripplelike, without mutual interference, carryingthe dust and grit progressively away from the brush.

Another object of the invention isto provide a fountain brush in which the filamentous elements are arranged in spirally wound laminae capable of spreading toward their freeendsand-lformi'ng between them a convoluted space, flaring outwardly, so that water admitted to the base ;of the laminae and leaving at their vfree end loses velocity as. it gains ,v l-ume,;- ssu ing in a slowbut voluminous jet, this being the condition besft conducive to the removal of grit without scratching. j e Other objects of the invention will appear preferred embodialong the line ,5 of Figure 4.

Referring now in detailto the several figures, the numeral 1 represents, in general,

the head of the brush which is held by any suitablemeans in the open endofa casing 2, leaving a space 3 In-therear end of said Leasing whichfunctlo'ns asa reservoir. The

back of the casing is preferably prolonged into a hollow boss 4 having'a connector 5 of any desirable material held therein in any "suitable mun'ne'r'as by striking in the material o'f said bossas shown at 6, causing itto ponstitute the. filam'entousf portion 1 pf the r s b ar ang d ni' u s m y ,x nq ntrio layers leaving ,sn-bstai i'tial-ly concensewa e l thi h i.e e eii we: nector is preferably prov ded withspirally arranged. corrugations -7 on outer surface,

having the formof a double taper over, 7

which a flexible hose 8 may be p ushed, the seating of said hose being facilitated by .ro-

- tating either the hose or the brush. The

hose is adapted to he conneete'd to any suit able source of water under pressure and I which is indicated by the reference character 9. The connector'fi is formed with a-bore l0 which places the reservoir-.3 in communication with the "source of water supply and the head iof the brushis formed with any desirable number of suitable apertures 131 placingthereservoirin coinmunication with the filamentous portion of thebrush;

The head lolf thebrush is preferably-formed of .a solid portion l2, constituting-one wall Of the resenvoir 3 and a filamentous porvtion 13 which extends outward-ly from said solid portion andis preferably integral therewith, It is essential tothe spirit of the in t 'th t the. am nts w ich trio spaces therebetween whicheoIn-mnnicate w h t e eserv r thr ug th e fi s 2- It is within.. the scope of theinventionto make th l m ous am n e y indr a but I have found it to be more practical,

from a manufacturing stahdpoint, tof oonstruct the head, of the brush-from a'continuou's strip of material having a solid, that is to say, uncut portion adjacent one edge ands filamentousp -rtion adjacent the other edge, and to ,roll said strip into acouvoluted body so that the filaments are. a1 ranged inspirally wound laminae, theyspa'ce sbetween ,said laminae be'ingof similar form. In practice it is preferred to form the head of the brush from a strip of rubber 1 6 outalong one edge into filaments, asfdescr i'bed,

and to superpose upon this stripa :na-rr'ow strip ,15" of solid, that is to say, .uncut rubberoverlyfing the uncut portion =o;f;the first strip but, not extending over the filamentous portion thereof. A coating ofsuitable vul cani'zing fluid or cement may be spread upon; I

I the contacting surfaeesof one or bothof said strips before-winding them "in .con'voluted form-the narrow strip forming a spacer "for a'djacent filamentous laminae i ther'ebygiving *wi'd'th-t'o the convoluted s'pac ei between said tric circular spaces of distributing the water uniformly throughout 'said' space, even though the water emanates from the reservoir in a single one, or a small number of orifices. V c

The filaments 14 are preferably cut slight- 1y wider at the base than the thickness of the strip from which they are "formed so that they" constitute, adjacent the base, a

relatively stiff wall, the filaments lying so close as tosubstantially prevent lateral leakage from one convolution of the spiral space to another. By reason of their length the filaments become more flexible toward their free ends so that they separate slightly, not only under pressure of the brush against a surface but by virtue of the water within the convolutedspace, causing the space to become progressively more capaclous as it approaches the free endof the brush. This has the effect of reducing the velocity of, the

.water in passing through said; convoluted space, at the same time increasing the volume thereof so that the water issues from the end of the filamentous portion in a relatively slow and voluminous jet; This ensures the safest and mostefiicient cleansing action, for it 18 well known that, when water lmpinges with great force upon the grit env crusted upon the surface of the automobile body,scratchingor mar-ring of the surface is apt to result. p 7

The convoluted nature of the space between the filamentous laminae determines the form of the issuin jet of water whichimg b 7 I V pinges upon thesurface to becleansed in a succession of non-interfering, substantially concentric waves which expand from under i brush and preventing its being ground into the brush in a succession of'ripples carrying the dirt outwardly from the filaments of the the finish of the automobileby-therubbing apart. 7 acteristic of the filaments under the pressure action of the brush. g, Y

- Furthermore, thefiat shape-of the filaments at the base ensures the formation of well defined channels so that the water enteringfrom the reservoir will spread circumferentially ;in a uniformly distributed film, keeping the filaments of adjacent layers This, togetherwith the flaring charofthe water, causes the brush to be absolutely self-flushing so that no grit will be retained therein through capillary action or any other cause. The action of the brush 7 is entirely different in principle from that of an ordinary bristle brush. In a bristle brush, where the filaments are not arranged spirally, and are not comparatively close and flat adjacent the base, there are no well defined paths into which the water can issue and uniformly distribute itself. Moreover,

the bristles group themselves into clustersv which stick together by capillary attraction, the water flowing around the outside of the cluster of bristles in undistributed streams,

most of it running off of the. lower'side of the brush without impinging at all upon the automobile so that a" more intimate rubbing of the brush against the surface is required to effect the desired cleansing. The capillary attraction between the bristles of a cluster also causes the grit over which the brush moves to be drawn into the cluster between said bristles, which grit is not only rubbed into the surface of the automobile during the operation of the brush, but is retainedin the brush when the water is turned off so i that the brush not self-cleansing, and

therefore unsafe touse in contact with a hi hly polished surface. f i Y n the modified form of my invention shown in Figures 4; and 5' the filamentous strip of rubber 16 anda narrow strip of corrugated material 17 preferably-metal, are

wound together. In this way series of open-.

bags 18 are formed atthe inner end'of the filamentous strip which afford communicationlbetween the reservoir and filamentous portion of the brush thereby obviating the need of making orifices 11' in the brush head after the latter has been rolled; V v

\Vhile I have here shown and described what I believe to bea practical form of my invention, yet it is to be understood that numerous changes and alterations in the several parts or the. substitution of equivalents for elements herein shownand described may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is I I 1; A fountain-brush, comprising a cupshaped casing having a hose connection, and a head closing said casingand having a filamentous portion arranged inthe form of convoluted. laminae and defining between said laminae a convoluted passage in communication with the casing.

2. A fountain brush, comprising a cupshaped casing having a reservoir and a hose ments, said filaments being arranged in corn.

voluted laminae to define between them a convoluted passage, the solid'portion of the head sealing the casing and having passages therethrough communicating with chamber and said convoluted passage.

3. A fountain brush, comprising a cupshaped casing having a reservoir and a hose connection communicating therewith, a strip said :of rubber having a filamentous portion at one edge, and a StI'lp of corrugated metal,

both of said strips being rolled together to form a head having a base, the filaments being arranged to form convoluted laminae strip having slits in one of it s'edges and hav- 7 ing its opposite edge secured 1n the open end of said casing, and means to permit the passage of water from said easing to'tlie space between the convoluted slitted edge of said strip; a

5. A fountain brush, comprising a substantially cup-shaped casing'having a hose connection. and a head seated in the open end of said casing, said head comprising a strip of material having projections on one of its faces and a second strip of flexible material having slits along one of its edges, said stripsbeing woundtogether with said first-named strip between the convolutions of the unslitted portion of said secondnamed strip and the slitted convoluted edge a of said second-named strip extending beyond the open end of said casing.

In testimony whereof I have vhereunto set my hand.

ROBERT MORSE WITHYCO'MBE, 

